


Devil's Playground

by Kylo_Skywalker



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Drama & Romance, F/M, Fanfiction, Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-05
Updated: 2019-11-25
Packaged: 2020-12-01 21:10:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20900366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kylo_Skywalker/pseuds/Kylo_Skywalker
Summary: Finn Bauman, a Pyrokinetic, and Delta Mayfield, a Shadow Bender, were both kids of the Hawkins Lab Experiments along with Eleven, Kali, and others. In 1985, the first week of July, these two teenage superbeings must help out Eleven, friends, and family, when it comes to beating the Russians who have a secret lab under the Starcourt Mall, a Mind Flayer and the Flayed.





	1. FINN

Running, that’s what she was doing. Running as far as she could through the pelting rain that came pouring down, soaking into her clothes and hair. Through the woods she went, her slippers getting stuck in mud which left her barefoot and prone to stepping on sticks that were jabbing into the soles of her feet. Her hands batted away any branches that would’ve whacked her in the face, sheltering herself from any more possible damage other than what she had endured for the past twelve years of her life—soon to be thirteen since a birthday was coming up.

Her name used to be Charlie Harrison and she was only three whenever a man by the name of Dr. Brenner took her away from her parents and their home of Texarkana, the whole way to Hawkins, Indiana. During the long years, she was given a number for a name, accompanied by a tattoo like many of the other kids at the Hawkins National Laboratory. 005. That was hers. It became her new name, and how she hated it. Five. It was no name for a girl, but neither was the other names that other girls had like Three, Eight, and Nine. After two months, it changed when a new scientist came in, having the same exact thought as her. 

“Five just doesn’t suit you, but you do need a name that still means it.” He had remarked, tapping the end of his ballpoint pen against her cheek, thinking. Slowly but surely, an idea flashed in front of him and she swore she saw a manifestation of a light bulb above his head. “What about Finn? It’s what we call five dollar bills.” 

She nodded slowly, thinking it was much better than just being a number. 

“Finn it is.” 

And here she went, trekking through the crisp, cool, rainy night of November 6th, 1983. Leaving behind the lab, her friend that she had made named Eleven, and some type of green, slimy slim monster that had a face that opened up like a flower, the petals displaying rows of teeth. She felt horrible, leaving behind her friend but they got split up and it was too late to go back to her. The men were coming after and she had to go, to leave. 

Her ankles screamed for her to stop but she powered through crunchy leaves that had freshly fallen on the ground, heart thumping in her chest, feeling heavy. The right foot stumbles, body crashing down in the wet earth but scrambles back up on her feet, continuing on through the thorny branches. Her cheeks were being hit, pale blue sweatsuit slashed and infused with sweat, rain, and mud, but on and on she went. 

How long had she gone? A mile? Two? Or even three? It didn’t matter, she just kept on going through the night and into the next seven days. 

It was the break of dawn on November 13th when a car drove up, finding Finn laying face down in the ditch by the road; the morning dew was fresh and had soaked into her clothes and hair. The man carefully turned the fifteen year old over, feeling for a pulse and asked if she could hear him to test her responsiveness. She had been so worn out, so drained physically that the man scooped her up and placed her into his back seat before taking off towards the hospital where she was then checked. Blood samples were taken to find her DNA and her parents but strangely nothing had came up, it was as if her whole entire fifteen years of existence had been erased; like this girl just materialized out of nowhere and the man by the name of Murray Bauman was the first poor ole sap that came across her new arrival. 

Three days had passed and Murray visited her so often, mostly times when she was asleep, but he still checked in on her because he felt responsible for her. It was a weird thing for him to feel, he had no children of his own let alone no wife but this little girl, she already felt like his family. Possibly a long lost child of his due to an old college flame who never told him that she was pregnant, moved away, who must’ve been rude or unkind to her. Or at least, had an abusive husband to the point that the girl had taken off to find Murray herself but had trouble along the way which explains why she was dirty, covered in filth, and her clothes smelled of mildew. 

The first conversation that Murray ever had with the girl was on the second day—yesterday—she was awake, eating chocolate pudding and drinking a small carton of milk, watching Tom and Jerry. He sat at the foot of her bed, asking how she was and asked her what she remembered. Finn remembered a lot of things but she was scared to say anything in fear that he would take her back to Hawkins, Indiana. So she did the only thing she could do, lie; told him that she could hardly remember that happened the day before, let alone what had happened to her on the day that he brought her to the clinic. 

He then requested if she knew her name and that one was easy, it had been pounded into her brain ever since she stepped into the Hawkins Laboratory. “Finn.” 

“Finn what?” He was asking for a last name, for details—he was a reporter for the Chicago Times so it was in his nature to get all the information that was necessary. 

“Harrison,” Finn wanted to tell him. “My real name is Charlie Harrison but I was taken from my parents and brought to Hawkins, Indiana where a man by the name of Dr. Brenner made me go by the number five until someone actually gave me the name of Finn. They took me and a lot of other kids who went by numbers because we all had abilities that you normally only see in cartoons such as Super Friends.” But she didn’t. 

Finn was still only a child—a child that was raised by older humans who was pushing them to display and use their powers for their own personal gain. Back in March, Finn recalled seeing a girl by the name of Twelve trying to power five light bulbs with her mind. She got three and the fourth one was flickering which caused her to do harder, pressing herself to prove her worth so Dr. Brenner wouldn’t be disappointed. She began bleeding from her nose, eyes, and nose. She still kept on going but then, her body went limp and back she fell in the chair; slumped. Twelve had suffered an aneurysm. 

It had scared Finn but what made it worse was that Dr. Brenner didn’t even seem to care, he just waved to two men to enter the room and pick up the girl’s body, taking her out so the next kid could go in and display their progress. From that day on, Finn just thought that no adults would ever see her as a person but just as a weirdo—a freak—who was able to roast a marshmallow just by looking at it. 

To Finn, Murray seemed nice enough but so did Dr. Brenner in the beginning then after a week, he showed his true colors by being deceiving, cunning, and manipulative. She didn’t need to unload the truth onto this man, she needed him to earn her trust before she said anything about her past and Hawkins. So to answer his question about a last name, she shook her head, saying, “I don’t remember.”

There Murray stood at Finn’s door on that fine morning of the 16th, seeing that she was speaking with the one nurse who was checking her IV bag before the doctor who was a very good friend of Murray’s had told him that they were going to be calling child services due to her being an orphan with no name and no home. 

Thinking, Murray found himself asking, “What about me? Can I adopt her?” 

It took a few minutes for Murray to rope him in but once he did, the doctor made a few arrangements and called in a social worker to give him a talk, along with the child, and ask a few questions as well as visit his home to see if it was fit for a child. After ten hours of careful processing and thorough checking, Murray had officially became a father. 

It had been a year, Finn turned seventeen and she sat in the dining room, eating her sunny side up eggs and bacon when Murray was on the phone, talking to someone by the name of Marsha Holland. He had been contacting her for the past two weeks and gathering information as well as intel from her and others he’d been investigating. He left from time and time, Finn never asking but it began to make her curious. She listened in, watching as her father stumbled around and agreed to something that Finn couldn’t quite hear. He placed the phone back on the landline and sat down, picking up a piece of buttered toast that had strawberry jam on it. 

“What were you talking about?” She questioned simply, taking a sip of her orange juice.

“A woman has been missing her daughter, wanting me to go and find out what had happened to her. I have a few leads . . .” He mumbled off, going into deep thought. 

Murray had quit his job from being an investigative journalist and turned to a private investigator, it happened a few months ago when Finn decided to wear a baseball tee, resulting in Murray seeing her tattoo that marked the left wrist. He asked her where she got it and she told him that a man had done it to her—never gave a name or why, and Murray never asked but she figured that he had his own theories that began piling up in his head. 

Finn nodded, jabbing her fork into the yolk to break it and glanced over at the calendar. October 29th. “So where is this case at? Where you’ve been going to?” 

“Hawkins, Indiana.” 

Finn felt her eyes go wide, her slowly looking up at her father and studied him for a good minute. “H-Hawkins?” Murray nodded. “When did their daughter go missing?”

He nods, taking a sip of his coffee that he poured some alcohol in. “Last year around November 8th, she hasn’t been seen since.” 

Finn felt herself trembling, she knew the truth of what might’ve happened. That was only two days after her and Eleven opened a webcracking portal, unleashing a flower tooth petaled monster. Down her fork goes, her hands placing themselves in her lap and she gulped. 

“You alright there, Sprite?” Murray placed his hand up, touching her forehead to see if she was feeling sick. 

Sprite, it was what he called her. At first, Finn thought it was because all she drank was Sprite soda but it was because that’s where he had found her; laying across the road from a diner that they all called Sprite and since she was a Jane Doe in the hospital, that became her placeholder. 

“Dad, I . . Remember when you asked me if I remembered anything back when you first met me?” He nods intently. “I lied because I was scared.” 

“Scared of what?” 

“Scared that you were going to take me back . . . To Hawkins.” 

Finn finally came out, telling Murray the truth of what had happened. Being stolen from her parents, Dr. Brenner taking her to Hawkins Lab and changing her name from Charlie Harrison to Five and then to Finn. To being tattooed with 005, to being experimented on and being treated like a caged animal along with other kids. She told him how she had escaped, that her one friend had become lost; separating paths and going by themselves while she went the other way. 

Murray sat back, remembering how a co-worker of a man named Ted Wheeler said that he, Ted, claimed to have harbored a “Russian” girl with a shaved head in his basement. He also remembered interviewing another person who had spotted the same girl but she had stolen a box of Eggos and headed out of the store, using “psionic abilities” to shut the doors behind her which broke them. 

He asked Finn about her friend and what she looked like. Finn gave him the information and he finally connected his piece of the puzzle, knowing that Finn and the girl was connected. He wasn’t angry but rather sad that his daughter never had a real childhood, and when a chance at normalcy came her way, she took it. She was brave, he thought. An opportunist. 

After the story, it had left Murray with only one question. “Do you have said, psionic abilities?” 

With her dark, green eyes locking on his brown ones, she took in a small breath. “You want to see?” 

November 3rd, the door buzzed and Finn looked over to her father, seeing him traveling up to the camera TV, seeing two teenagers at the door. He had the home surveillance installed when Finn told him about Hawkins and feared for her, and even his, safety. He was wearing simple clothes for lounging around but still comfy enough that if he needed to do something, he was prepared. 

“Look at the camera.” He ordered the teenagers who were around Finn’s age of seventeen. “The camera.” He slowly repeated, watching as the boy was confused and hitting the aiphone. “Not the loudspeaker, above you! To the right!” He clarified, already getting annoyed by them. 

Once they did, he nodded, heading out to the door and unlocked it. He swings it open, standing in front of them while Finn, herself, got up and eyed the screen to see who the two teens were. She recognized them from her father’s research; Nancy Wheeler and Jonathan Byers, both from Hawkins, Indiana. 

She heard the door shut and Finn stood straight, seeing Murray traveling up to the yellow gate and opening it. “Well, I hope you didn’t come all this way to tell me about the bear in the Harrington kid’s back yard. I’ve heard that one already.” 

The boy, Jonathan, glanced over with Nancy, seeing Finn standing there kinda awkwardly. She gave them a small smile and a wave, Nancy looked away but Jonathan gave her a small nod back while Murray opened up the metal door to his theory room. 

“Take a look, go ahead. Don’t be shy.” He announced, the two heading in to eye his pinned pictures, notes, maps, and red yarn on the wall. “I followed up on two hundred tips, most bogus but that’s how these things always go, okay. I know every last step Barbara took that day, every last person she talked to. The answer to what happened to your friend it’s up here somewhere, I assure you that, it’s just . . gotta connect the right dots.” 

“Timeline’s wrong.” Nancy told him, eyeing the board of Barbara.

Finn snuck over, leaning against the door frame while her father stared at the back of Nancy’s head. “I’m sorry?” 

“Your timeline is wrong.” She faces him, Jonathan doing the same. “And the girl with the buzzed hair,” Nancy points over at a picture, Finn following her finger and her heart stopped. “She’s not Russian, she’s from—”

“Hawkins Lab.” Finn uttered, the three of them eyeing her as she stood up next to Jonathan to eye the picture closely. She seen it before but she figured it was because of what she told her father, not because she was actually spotted in Hawkins. “Eleven, she’s . . . She’s alive? You seen her? Is she okay?”

Jonathan then frowned. “You may want to sit down for this.” 

As told Murray and Finn sat down, Nancy and Jonathan began telling the story of how Barbara was taken by a monster that they called a Demogorgon and Jonathan’s little brother, Will, he was taken as well into what they called the Upside Down; an alternate dimension existing in parallel to the human world. They explained how they fought against the creature, that it was attracted to blood and much, much more. 

Jonathan then said how Eleven disappeared last year, vanishing after she had killed a Demogorgon; saving Nancy’s little brother named Mike and his two friends Dustin and Lucas. Then finally, Nancy began speaking about Hawkins Lab and how she and Jonathan visited a man by the name of Doctor Owens. She then pulled out a tape recorder from her pocket, pressing play. “‘Men of science have made abundant mistakes of every kind.’ George Sarton said that. You guys know who George Sarton is? Doesn't really matter. The point is, mistakes have been made.”

“Mistakes?”

“Yes.”

“You killed Barbara.”

“Abundant mistakes, but . . the men involved with those mistakes, the ones responsible for what happened to your brother and Miss Holland’s death, they’re gone. They’re gone, and for better for worse, I’m the schmuck they brought in to make things better.”

“Dr. Brenner’s gone?” Finn whispered to herself and Murray reached over, taking her hand into his as the recording went on.

“But I can’t make things better without your help.”

“You mean without us shutting up?” Nancy’s voice kicks in again.

The man sighs. “She's tough, this one.” 

Nancy then pressed the button, skipping through unimportant talking and pressed play again, the man speaking. 

“I’d call it one hell of a mistake. Wouldn’t you? See, the thing is, we can’t seem to erase our mistake but we can stop it from spreading. Like, it’s like pulling weeds. But imagine for a moment if a foreign state, let’s say, the Soviets—if they heard about our mistake, do you think they would even consider that a mistake? What if they tried to replicate that? The more attention we bring to ourselves, the more people like the Hollands know the truth, the more likely that scenario becomes. You see why I have to stop the truth from spreading, too. Just, same as those weeds there. By whatever means necessary.”

The recording comes to a stop, Nancy and Jonathan staring at the Baumans. “So, is it enough?” Murray just slowly blinked, letting Finn’s hand go as he looked up at the two teens. “The tape recording, is it . . . enough? Is it incriminating?” Murray then got up, heading out of the room and they both looked to one another before turning to Finn.

Finn stood, motioning for them to follow her and they went after to see Murray bringing out a bottle of Russian vodka and a cup. “What exactly is he doing?” Jonathan asked Finn. 

“He’s thinking.” 

“With vodka?” Nancy retorted. 

“It’s a central nervous system depressant.” Murray lifted his head, unscrewing off the cap and pouring it into his cup with two ice cubes. “So yes, with vodka.” He placed the lid on the glass, shaking it around and Nancy took in a deep breath. 

Once he finished, he took his drink and traveled over to the record player, grabbing a Billie Holiday vinyl. “Music? Really?” 

“Yes. It helps me . . .” He trailed off, opening the lid and took out the disc, placing it on the track.

“What? Think?” Jonathan scanned him over, Murray nods, closing the lid and the disc began playing. 

Nancy began getting increasingly irritated. “How long is this gonna take?”

“Longer if you keep talking.”

“Is the tape incriminating or not? It’s a simple question.”

“Ah, ha ho ho,” Murray laughed mockingly, turning to her. “There's nothing simple about it. Nothing simple about anything you’ve told me.”

“You don’t believe us, do you?” Jonathan spoke up. 

“I believe you, but that’s not the problem. You don’t need me to believe you. You need them to believe you.”

“Them?” 

“Them.With a capital T.” He then strode over to where the wall of old TVs where. “Your priest, your postman, your teacher, the world at large.” He scoffs, “They won’t believe any of this.”

“That's why we made the tape.” Nancy defends.

“Oh. That’s easy to bury. Easy.”

“He admits it.” Nancy stood her ground. “You heard it. He admits culpability.”

“You’re being naive, Nancy!” That made her grow quiet. “Those people . . . They’re not wired like me and you, okay? They don’t spend their lives trying to get a look at what’s behind the curtain. They like the curtain. It provides them stability, comfort, definition. This would open the curtain, and open the curtain behind that curtain, okay? So the minute someone with an ounce of authority calls bullshit, everyone will nod their heads and say, ‘See? Ha! I knew it! It was bullshit.’ That is, if you even get their attention at all.”

“You’re saying we did all of this for nothing?” 

“I’m saying, I’m thinking.” Murray then drank his vodka, him almost spitting it back up from being too strong. He then heads back to the kitchen, getting some water while Jonathan strolled up to Nancy who was visibly upset. 

Finn eyed her father, folding her arms in front of her chest and eyed him. He then paused, a lightbulb going off in his head and she grinned. Finn been around him for two years, she knew how his brain worked because it was exactly like hers. So when Murray had that look, she automatically understood. “It’s too strong.” 

“Too strong.” Murray agrees as Jonathan and Nancy came over, seeing what they were talking about. He then added more water to the vodka, tasting it. “Better.” He added more. “Perfect.”

Nancy finally got it, smiling. “We water it down.”

“Precisely.”

Jonathan double blinked, not getting it like how the others did. “Wait. What?”

“Your story. We moderate it. Just like this drink here. We make it more tolerable.” He elaborated and Finn reached up into the cupboard, grabbing the vodka and two cups, handing it to Murray so he could display his idea with physical props. “Perhaps Barbara was exposed to some dangerous toxins.”

“A leak from the lab. Like Three Mile Island or something.” Nancy offered.

Murray nods. “Something scary but familiar. Close enough that it hits the man right where it hurts.” He passed out the new drinks to Jonathan and Nancy.

“And those assholes that killed Barb . . .” She remarks, picking up her glass along with Jonathan. 

“They’ll go down.” And it was bottoms up. 

It had been two days, late at night and Finn was home alone while her father was out, mailing the many packages that he, Nancy, and Jonathan created with letters and copies of the tape that they had of Doctor Owens. Finn was watching TV, eating leftover Chinese takeout that was in the fridge, mostly quiet night until she was visited by an old friend by the name of Eleven. Two years since they’ve seen each other and they both hugged, Finn filled with relief that she was alive and supporting slick combed back hair with black eyeshadow and eyeliner. Eleven asked her to head back to Hawkins, to help her finish what they’ve started; opening the entrance to the Upside Down. Finn went along with it. 

Outside of a house, Eleven and Finn walked up to it but then paused, hearing growling noises. Eleven sensed it too, watching as a four dog looking creatures were outside of the house, prowling for a way inside in the bushes. Finn nods to Eleven and with that, Eleven began using her telekinesis, killing off the dogs by snapping their necks which earned whimpers and the creatures going after them. Finn then focused on one, seeing it leap at her but she stared it down, the skin of the creature cracking and disintegrating as it was frozen in mid air. It screeched in pain, crying out, and Finn jutted out her face, sending the being through the one window. 

Eleven and her both strolled up just then, unlocking the door with Eleven’s powers and stepping in for them to see a group of kids, Nancy, Jonathan, the Harrington boy named Steve, a woman, and a man that Finn knew as Jim Hopper from her father. One boy who was pale stepped forwards, looking smitten by Eleven and she smiled before gleefully bringing him into a tight hug while Finn shut the door behind them. 

“Who the hell are you?” Hopper lowered his gun, staring at Finn. 

“Finn Bauman.” 

“Murray had a daughter?” He questioned. “Where’s he been hiding you?” 

“Where have you been hiding El?” She shot back, wondering which caught Mike’s attention. 

Eleven then let Mike go, focusing on Jim. “Where have you been?” Jim stepped up, giving her a hug and a kiss on the forehead. 

Mike then shoved him, being upset but Jim took them into a different room to speak while two boys then hugged Eleven, welcoming her back. Finn figured it must’ve been Dustin and Lucas. A girl then walked up between the boys, introducing herself as Max and held out her hand for Eleven to shake it but she just shrugged off the girl, stepping pass to the woman who must’ve been Jonathan’s mother. She then asked her if she was able to “see him”, Finn knew that she was talking about Will, Jonathan’s little brother. She had filled her in on the bus ride back to Hawkins, about how Will was connected with the Upside Down and how that caused terrible trouble. 

A while later, Mike, Jim, Eleven, and the woman who Finn found out was named Joyce came out, surrounding the dining table where she was, eyeing the scrawled message of CLOSE GATE on the back of a placement. While staring at it, Finn remembered what had happened that day. 

Eleven and her were both in sensory deprivation tanks, entering what they called the Void which was a black scenery with a water covering the floor. They had seen the creature before during their spying, but this time Dr. Brenner wanted them to make contact. Eleven didn’t want to but Finn did, she was curious and wanted answers. 

The creature was hunched over something, feeding and while Eleven stayed back, Finn wandered up to it, poking its shoulder and it spun around. It’s head opened, displaying the petals and both Eleven and Finn screamed which caused the Gate to be opened. 

Finn came out of her daze when she heard Joyce ask, “You opened this gate before, right?”

“Both, Finn and I. Yes.”

Joyce gave Eleven a look then Fin. “Do you think if we got you two back there, that you could close it?”

Jim then spoke up. “It’s not like it was before. It’s grown. A lot. And, I mean, that’s considering we can get in there. The place is crawling with those dogs.”

“Demodogs.” Dustin spoke up.

Jim sighed. “I’m sorry, what?”

“I said, uh, Demodogs. Like Demogorgon and dogs. You put them together, it sounds pretty badass—”

“How is this important right now?”

“It’s not. I’m sorry.” Dustin apologized sadly, turning back to face the table. 

“I can do it.” Eleven stated.

Jim shook his head. “You’re not hearing me.”

“I’m hearing you.” She nods. “I can do it.” Her eyes then lingered to Finn. “We can do it.”

Mike then spoke. “Even if El can, there’s still another problem. If the brain dies, the body dies.”

The redhead, Max, she knitted her brows together. “I thought that was the whole point.”

“It is, but if we’re really right about this I mean, if El and Finn closes the Gate and kills the Mind Flayer’s army—”

“Will’s a part of that army.” Lucas finished. 

“Closing the Gate will kill him.” 

Finn then thought about everything that she learned within the past two hours and she turned, staring at the room where Will was and entered it. They all followed after, calling out her name to see what she was thinking; what she was planning. She eyed Will’s sleeping body, glancing over to the window that was opened and blowing in a cool breeze. 

“He’s sweating.” Finn remarked, studying the boy and headed over to the window, shutting it. “He needs to sweat.” 

“Why? What’s that going to do?” Mike asked. 

“Joyce said that Will kept on telling that he likes it cold, right?” Finn gazed to her, earning a nod. “The Mind Flayer is acting like a virus, right? And Will’s the host. You keep giving the host what it wants, it’ll stay.” 

Jonathan was kneeling down by Will’s bedside, understanding what had to be done. “We need to make the host uninhabitable.” 

“So if he likes the cold, we need to burn it out of him.” Joyce was already on board, eyes lingering over her son. 

Finn then nodded. “I can help with that.” She then raised her hand in a fist, opening it up to display a bright blue flames from her fingertips which had everyone speechless. Her palm then closes, extinguishing the fire. 

“We have to do it somewhere he doesn’t know this time.”

“Yeah, somewhere far away.” Dustin added onto Mike’s statement. 

On the move, Jonathan, Joyce, Nancy, and Finn all got Will into the back seat and drove off in the direction of where Jim’s cabin in the woods was. It was far, about a forty minute drive and they pulled in, placing him inside of the house on a cot in the living room where the fireplace was. Nancy and Jonathan brought in the heaters, setting them up to face Will’s body while Joyce tied Will down to the bed with ropes. Finn brought in firewood, getting it ready and backed up to stand next to Jonathan and Joyce. 

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Jonathan whispered to his mom. 

“This thing has had Will long enough. Let’s kill the son of a bitch.”

“Warning,” Finn raised her hands, “it’s about to be toasty.” She began turning on the heaters by using her powers, even igniting the fireplace. 

The room increasingly got hot to the point that Nancy took off her jacket, Jonathan took off his jacket and sweater, and Joyce took off her jacket. The only person who was still dressed in a jacket and long sleeves was Finn, she was immune to hot temperatures which came to no real surprise. The only surprise that happened was when Will awoke, looking around, scared and began tugging at his restraints. 

‘What’s happening?” His tiny voice croaked. “It hurts. Oh, ow, it hurts!” He began kicking his feet to the best of his ability. “It hurts! It hurts! Let me go! Let me go!”

Joyce nudged Finn and she reached her hands out to the heaters, twisting her wrists which amplified the heat which made Will scream and squirm even more to the point that Jonathan had to hug Nancy in order to handle the painful yells that were coming from his little brother. 

“It hurts! Help! Help!” Will kept on shouting. 

“It’s not working.” Jonathan panted, his bangs drenched in sweat. “Mom, are you even listening to me?”

“Just wait!”

“How much longer?!” Jonathan was now questioning Finn but she didn’t answer, she just traveled around to the other side of Will and began using her hands to manually raise his body temperature without trying to disintegrate his body molecules. “Mom! Look at him!” Jonathan cried out. 

“Jonathan, just wait!” 

“She’s killing him!” 

“Jonathan, his neck!” Nancy began shouting over him, seeing black veins sprouting. “Look at his neck!” 

The lights in the house began flickering off and on, Will opening his mouth which released a squeal and grumble like how a Demogorgon had. His arm then broke free from the ropes, finding Finn’s neck and choking her with an intense grip of strength. Jonathan dove forwards with Joyce, trying to pry his hand off of her but he was too powerful. His eyes were deadset, locked on Finn’s and it felt as if he was staring deep into her soul. 

Finn didn’t want to hurt Will but she did want to hurt the Mind Flayer that was apart of him so she did the only thing she could’ve done. She closed her eyes, focusing on her breathing and ignited her right hand with a blue flame and jammed it right onto his side. His arm tore away from her throat, roaring in utter pain and while Joyce yelled, “Get the hell out of my son!” 

Suddenly, Will’s head was thrown back into the pillow, his mouth opening and what looked like ash and dirt came flying up out of his mouth. The huge cloud flew out of the house and Finn ran out, seeing it disappearing high up into the air and escaping to somewhere. She felt herself gulping from her harsh, bruised throat and she ran herself to the one place where she was needed; Hawkins Laboratory because she knew that Eleven couldn’t close the Gate alone.

It reminded Finn of long ago, running away from something that she started but now, she had to run towards it in order to save her friend and those who she cared about. There was no hiding, only facing and for once, Finn was prepared for it. She ran faster, her footsteps becoming lighter, less heavy. Finn then heard the cries of the Demodogs, knowing that they had a job at the Gate just like her. 

At the lab, Finn ran straight to where the Gate was located, seeing that there was no more elevators to take her down. She heard Jim firing shots off at the Demodogs, seeing the opening etching to a close but sense that Eleven was being drained of her ability. Finn frowned, thinking that it wasn’t fair that a girl her age had to battle these creatures on her lonesome without someone like her. She needed the help, the teamwork, and Finn was determined to give it to her. No matter what. 

She readied her hands, having them glow with a bright vivid blue and jumped straight down into the hole, falling down and at the last second, thrust her hands down to act a boost for her to have a soft landing on top of the metal box that Jim and Eleven were in. She then crouched down, seeing Eleven bleeding from her ears, nostrils, and she had dark bags underneath her eyes which reminded her of Twelve. 

Finn slipped down, right in between Jim and Eleven, helping Jim with killing a few Demodogs by using her pryokinesis and molecule destruction. Eleven began wheezing, breathing hard and Finn glanced to her before hearing something coming out of the Gate. She turned, seeing a big huge shadow creature trying to reach its one tentacle out towards them. Eleven’s hand was shaking, and Finn reached out her own hand, teaming up with Eleven and screamed which caused the arm of the Mind Flayer to be vaporized in front of them.

Eleven began yelling with Finn too, the two of them levitating a foot off the ground; Eleven closing the Gate while Finn focused on destroying the Mind Flayer’s limb. Finn added in her other hand, doubling up the power and watched as sparks flew through the air. She screamed once more, the Mind Flayer retreating and the Gate shutting. Finn dropped back to her feet while Eleven fell, passing out but Jim went down, scooping her up into her arms while all the Demodogs around them began falling all around them. 

December 5th, exactly a month later, Murray and Finn both sat alongside the road to drove into Hawkins Laboratory, watching it being shut down and closed for good. The military drove past, the two of them in smiles and waving goodbye to all of them while they flipped Murray off. Murray wrapped an arm around his daughter, kissing the top of her head. “Looks like you don’t have to worry anymore, Sprite.” 

“You know, next year, I’ll be turning eighteen.” 

“Don’t remind me.” He teased and Finn laughed happily. “You know, Hopper told me that there’s a dance at Hawkins Middle School. He was going to take El tonight, you want to go?” 

“But I’m too old.” 

“I’m sure a chaperone would dance with you.” 

Finn thought about it, frowning a tad. “There’s only one person I’d want to dance with . . . Delta.” 

“Delta?” Murray furrowed his brows together. “And who’s this Delta?” 

Finn eyed him, realizing that he was one thing she never told her father about. “He was someone special to me, when I was in Hawkins Lab . . . He was named Four but it didn’t fit him, so I called him Delta and we just . . . We never really labeled ourselves but some would say that we were dating. I dunno what ever happened to him . . . One day he was in Hawkins and the next, he was gone.” She began fumbling with her fingers. 

“Well, I bet he’s out there, somewhere. No question about it.” Murray smiled. “He’s going to have to go through me first, of course.” 

“Dad,” 

“He’ll need too, it’s my job.”

“Dad!” Finn chuckled. 

Murray then grinned. “Go to the dance tonight, for me. You deserve a very normal child experience of an embarrassing dance.” 

“Okay . . . But one condition.” Finn began to bargain. “I want to stay in Hawkins, with El. I’ll visit every now and then but, I want to stay here for her.” 

“Or you just wanna stay for the mall that’s coming next year?” 

“The mall is a plus.”

Murray held out his hand and Finn shook it. “Deal.” 

The Snow Ball was decorated with a blue balloon archway and blue streamers above the heads of middle schoolers, a few adult teachers, Nancy who was at the punch bowl, and Jonathan who was taking pictures for those who brought money for develops and for their school yearbook. Finn was peering in through the window to the gym, in her dark blue dress which had ruffles at the bottom and puffy sleeves that hung off the shoulders. She certainly felt overdressed compared to Nancy. 

Lucas asked Max to dance and some girl went up to Will, asking him and they went, joining the dancefloor leaving Mike and Dustin. Dustin was scanning the crowd, fixing his jacket and headed over to a group of groups who then dismissed him. He then began heading over to two girls but they walked off, making Dustin sit on the bleachers and tear up until Nancy headed over and brought him out on the floor which made Finn happy. 

“Finn?” 

She turned, seeing Eleven standing there in a pretty dress that looked too big for her and pink eyeshadow with a pink belt wrapped around her waist. “You look amazing.”

“Do I?” 

“Of course.” 

Finn then motioned towards the door, opening it for her and she strolled in which made Mike stand at attention and come on over, asking her to dance. She told him that she didn’t know how but he replied with a “me either,” them both joining with the crowd as the song changed to a different melody. 

A small tingle rushed up Finn’s back, making her glance over her shoulder, expecting to see someone standing there but it was nothing. She kept staring at the area, trying to see if there actually was something there that she couldn’t see with her eyes. Still nothing. 

“Finn,” she faces forwards again, seeing Jonathan stepping up to her. “Hi.” 

“Hi.”

“Would you like to dance?” 

She nodded sweetly, Jonathan taking her hand into his and lead them both out towards the center of the floor, under the disco ball. He placed her hands on her waist and she places hers on his shoulders, resting them there as they began swaying back and forth, left to right. Finn glanced up at the disco ball, smiling wide and scoping out the area of everyone enjoying their time. 

Meanwhile, in the Upside Down, a boy strolled up to the outside of Hawkins Middle School and seen the sky lighting up red with lightning. He focused his eyes, seeing a silhouette looming over the building and the picture finally came into view when the whole sky burst with lightning. It was the Mind Flayer.


	2. DELTA

September 9th, 1974 was a day that changed Miles Mayfield’s life forever. He was only seven, outside, trying to reach his three year old sister with fiery red hair how to skateboard while his father, Sam, was recording them. Miles had made sure that her helmet was on tight and that her elbow and knee pads were in place just in case she would slip and fall. He had been teaching her since she was two, their mother, Susan, disapproving but Sam enjoyed it—saying that it was life experience for their daughter, Maxine. 

“You got this, MadMax.” Miles encouraged. 

“I got it, Mies.” She repeated to herself, holding onto his one hand and pressed off the ground to move. The board went, Miles going alongside her and let her go as she traveled down the sidewalk. 

It was sunny in California, not a cloud in the sky which marked for a perfect day for skating lessons. From inside the house, Susan called for lunch and Sam called for Max. She whipped her head around as fast as she could, seeing her father and ended up slipping, falling right onto her back; the board shooting directly out from under her. Miles ran down, helping her up and sent her to their father after making sure she had no scrapes. He called his father, saying that he’ll be right in after he retrieved the board, Sam nodded, taking Max to get something to eat. 

Where they lived had been relatively quiet, safe for children of all ages, and within seven years, nothing bad had ever happened to Miles so, in Sam’s mind, another day wouldn’t hurt—only if he had known it would. 

Miles got the board, dusting it off, testing the one wheel by making it spin with his pointer finger. He gave himself a small smile, heading back to his yard and within seven feet from it, he was hooked backwards. Men in suits were pulling him away from the sidewalk while another sat in the passenger side, watching them grab the boy and getting him into the back of the van that was disguised as an Electric company. He gave a call to a man named Dr. Brenner, saying, “We got the boy”. Once they were in, shutting the doors, they were off. The only thing that remained was the skateboard, the one wheel still spinning as it laid upside down. 

_Four._ That’s how he was introduced to Hawkins, Indiana and the Laboratory that was filled with numerous kids; some around his age, others older and younger. He became friends with a girl who was marked and called Eight. She'd roll her eyes, looking to him and say that her real name is Kali and nothing would ever change that. She was dangerous—reckless, but she was his only friend and she was nice to him. 

When he asked what they were doing in Hawkins, Kali told him that they had magical powers that the scientists were trying to understand. He had a laugh about that. In what world does powers exist? They were only meant for TV. _Right? _

Six years down the line, he was at age thirteen, and had his head buzzcut in order for the scientists to monitor his brain waves without the interruption of hair being in the way. Dr. Brenner stood behind the glass, inspecting as the woman in the room asked the young boy to think about his recent nightmares. He fought against himself, trying to not allow his brain to think of such hellion creatures but Dr. Brenner spoke into the microphone; his voice coming in through the intercom that was in the room. 

“Come on, Four. Open your mind to us. You'll never understand the extent of your power if you just suppress it. Now, do it.”

The boy had closed his eyes, mentally picturing what the monsters looked like in his dreams, breathing heavily to the point that the scanner began moving vigorously to track his brainwaves. Dr. Brenner was pleased with this, leaning back and watched how the child squeezed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth. He was in an amount of pain but still pressed on which gave Dr. Brenner more satisfaction, his smile upturned in a huge, smirking grin. 

But then, it all changed. 

A mark on the boy’s body began appearing out of nowhere on his neck, the lights in the room combusting and raining down sparks. The paddles on the machine went haywire to the point that the machine itself broke, billowing smoke seeping out of it and high into the air. 

“Sir, we should get him to stop.” The woman from inside of the room stood, glancing over to the one way mirror; knowing Dr. Brenner was on the other side. “He’s getting dangerous.” 

“No. He’s channeling.” 

The boy gnashed his teeth together, his face scrunching up as his breathing became rapid and heavy. His chair and the table began rattling, the female scientist backing up against the wall terrified. The mark on his neck sprouted, traveling up and around his back and spine; looking like a lightning strike from underneath his skin. 

“Four, stop!” The lady begged, screaming out in horror as a bulb blew and drenched her in darkness. “Four, can you hear me? Stop! Please, sto—” Her yelling was replaced by her choking, gasping for air. Brenner and the other man who stood next to him with a clipboard peered over, trying to see what was happening to the women but it was so dark, it was like gazing into a black hole with no flashlight. Then the whole room plunged into the abyss. 

Silence. No more rustling, agonizing grunts, or the woman gagging; it was completely still and shadowy. 

Brenner pressed the call button, “Claire?” He asked for the female from inside the room. “Claire, what’s happening in there?” The lights flickered back on and the boy just sat in his seat, breathing heavily as he stared straight at the glass and right into Brenner’s eyes while the woman, Claire, laid on the floor lifeless. 

A few guards hurried, going straight into the room and removed the women while the boy apologized, saying, “I tried to stop it” over and over again. Brenner stepped in off to the side, a smirk lacing his lips as he saw what the child’s powers were capable of. They had killed someone without him even moving an inch, and that gave Brenner satisfaction. 

“Four, I believe you’re destined for great things.” 

Ever since that day, Brenner had the boy undergo many tests and pressed him mentally, urging to unleash everything he felt because only then could there be success. It got to the point where he was forced to try and harm a cat in a change with his powers but he refused, telling Brenner to leave him alone and to set the cat free because it was a harmless creature. This prompted the older man to ask if someone horrible was worth the experiment to torture and it made him fall silent—he never wanted to harm people, never to harm Claire but he had. But, was the man correct? Did he feel guilty of Claire because she was innocent and a good person? Would he still feel guilty if his powers killed someone like Ted Bundy? He didn’t want to test it out but a part of him really wanted to know. 

Instead, he turned back, eyeing the cat and focused on the structure of it, the shadow from underneath the table that the cat sat upon came to life; a long black tentacle reaching up and off the floor, looming over the cat before it engulfed the poor feline. The cat hissed within the cage and the lightning figure appeared on the black of his neck once again, this time smaller, as the lights began flickering off and on continuously. With easing up, the shadow disappeared and inside of the cage, there was now two cats and the boy smiled from having made a duplicate; the mark went away and he rubbed where it once was. 

_Cloning,_ Brenner felt himself being on top of the world at that point. _He could go into the void with Eleven to spy on the Russians and clone whatever machine or codes they have, giving them to us. _That’s all what those kids within Hawkins Lab were ever gonna be; Dr. Martin Brenner’s personal gain of receiving messages from Russia and being on top, called a hero for some reason or another. It filled him with delight, and he began planning. 

The next year, age fourteen, that’s when he met a girl that Brenner called Five. He had snuck out of his room—which was more of a cell than anything—with his powers and snuck down the halls, determined to leave to try and head back to California to see his baby sister Max, his mother Susan, and father Sam. He wanted to continue where he left off when the men took him away. He wanted to be called Miles again, to hug his mother, to eat leftover Chinese out of the carton with his father as they watched the daily races, to teach Max skateboarding tricks and how to ride down a ramp without losing the board from under your feet. 

Far from down the hall, he heard shouts, yelling which made him freeze and hide behind the one corridor just in case any guards heard and went to check out the noise. He peeked out, glancing down both ways, hearing a small conversation taking place down near the security room. 

“She having another restraint night?” One man with a squeaky voice spoke, yawning. 

“Of course she is,” an older, husky man replied and squeezed into his hand, wiping his palm off onto his pant leg. “She refuses to use her powers so Martin has her room set down in twenty degrees.” 

“But can’t . . . Can’t that kill her?” 

“Is that really our problem?” The man grunted, leaning back in his metal folder out chair which inched back on the tile floor, causing a squeak. “If she doesn’t want to use her powers and die, that’s on her. Not us. Our job is to keep them locked in their cells until morning.” 

Banging ensued, making the boy glance down to where the girl was located, hearing her cry out for the heat to be turned on in her room; shivering and try to warm herself up by rubbing her arms. And with a wave of his hand, he sent his own shadow down to where she was. The humanoid figure dancing along the walls and blending in with the night, avoiding the dim yellow colored lights that lingered at the top of the ceiling. When it reached her room, its transparent darken arm lifted up to the thermostat and twisted the knob down to heat up the room. The figure then slipped under the door, seeing the brown haired girl curled up on her bed that was in the corner, holding her legs to her chest to try and maintain body heat. The shadow then traveled back to its rightful spot, connecting to the small boy and tapped his shoulder letting him know that he shouldn’t leave because the girl would most likely need help—need a friend. 

The boy had a small moment of doubt. Certainly the girl wouldn’t need him to fend for her battles because he knew of many strong and powerful women from his dad’s old comic collection. He knew that they were capable of fighting and being amazing, but his shadow had never warned him of something like this before which told him that_ this_ _was_ a big deal. He slowly withdrew back to his room, forgetting all about his plans to go and try to escape. It pained him at first but he kept on thinking about it and realize that it would be for the best. 

He told himself that they may have already moved on, got a dog to fill the space that he had left in their family. That Max probably forgotten all about him and from that, his parents removed his baby pictures from the living room to erase all acknowledgment of his existence for their daughter’s sake. His family and him had different lives now. That was a fact. 

He was no longer Miles Mayfield who lives in California, he was just Four, a boy who stays within a laboratory that’s in Hawkins, Indiana and that was the reality of it all. 

It was the next morning that got him excited in a very long time because at lunch, the girl that his shadow had helped sat down next to him, eating her lunch and he kept on taking glances at her as he heard the voice of his shadow whisper to him. _That’s her, that’s the girl. Talk to her. Let her know we’re friends. _

“Do I have something on my face?” She asked with a smile, turning to face him as she peeled her orange. The girl was already being incredibly friendly to him and it made him feel better about himself. 

“Uh, no . . No, I-I was just . . . Hi.” He fumbled with his words and she laughed. 

“You’re kinda weird, aren’t you?” 

He nodded shyly. 

“So am I. We can be weird together.” She took an orange slice, popping it into her mouth before chewing on it and grabbing another to offer it to the boy. “To making a new friend?” 

He took it tenderly, a small smile appearing on his lips. “To making a new friend.” He took a small bite, the voice of his buddy telling him to introduce himself. “I’m Four.” 

“Finn.” 

“You got an actual name?” 

“It still means five which is what they call me,” she then held out her left arm, displaying her tattoo of 005, “but the one man here decided to give me a name that felt more humane than just being a number. So whenever someone asks, I say that my name is Finn but to them, I answer to Five.” 

The boy frowned but wistfully stifled a chuckle. “I wish I was that lucky with a name. Being Four isn’t exactly the greatest thing in the entire world cause like you said, I don’t even feel like a person.” 

“Why not do it yourself?” Finn remarked, grabbing another orange slice and chewed on it. “Give yourself a name that still means four.” 

He grew quiet, thinking of names that meant the number in other languages. His shadow even helped out, too. Iver? Drew? Ford? Nothing was really sticking until one finally did the trick. He had no idea where it came from 

“What about Delta? It’s Greek for the fourth letter in the alphabet.” 

Finn nodded along, her lips curving into a wide smile. “As long as I can call you Del.” She teased, offering him another slice of her orange and he took it happily. That was the start of their friendship and how it blossomed over the two years. 

He had learned that she was capable of manipulating and creating fire which to him was ironic, because she was such a warm and passionate person. He first saw her in action when she was in an experiment room, being watched by Dr. Brenner and a man named Ray Carroll who Delta had come to know as the man who give Finn her name. She sat in the chair, a few doctors asking her questions and trying to force her to use her powers which made her grow scared and cover her ears to try and block out their voices. It got to the point that they were screaming at her and she let out her own squeal, her body ignited with flames before lashing out; the intense heat catching the lab coats on fire and scorching their hair. The three ran out of the room, trying to salvage themselves before their injuries or Finn’s power got worse. 

Martin Brenner just shook his head in disappointment, watching as Finn cried and held herself as if she could protect her own body and mind from this torture that he was inflicting just so she could display, use, and control her power. He stepped into the room, tisking, and stared her down. 

“We’ve been working on this for eight years now, you do understand that, correct?” He questioned, his voice was monotone yet somehow gentle which made her meet his gaze. “You have a wound, Five. A terrible wound. And it’s festering.” He then squatted down in front, getting close to her. “Eventually, it’ll kill you.” 

Delta just stood back, watching from the shadows; using his powers to mask himself from being seen. He felt himself getting upset, waving his hand to create bindings on Brenner’s feet to hold him in place. Brenner tried to move, being stuck and he glanced down at his feet, seeing black wraps all around his shoes. 

“Four, are you here?” His eyes darted across the room, eyeing the corners. “I must say I’m relieved you’re using your powers, but I expect you to use them for something more valuable than just pranks.” 

“You’re hurting her.” His voice echoed throughout the room. 

“I’m merely pushing her to unlock her true potential.” 

“And you’re going the wrong way about it.” He stepped on out, the black veil that was masking him lifted. “In time, she’ll use her powers but you cannot force her to. Trust me, she’ll grow to hate them because of you, and she shouldn’t, because it’s apart of her—apart of what makes her a wonderful person.” 

Martin Brenner took in his words for account, thinking and sighed. “I’ll make a deal with you, Four. You get her to use her powers, and I’ll ease up on the experiments. If you don’t, I’ll continue but this time with more extreme precision.” 

Delta took one look to Finn’s tear stained face, seeing the complete fear and worry in her eyes as her stare went to him. He nodded in agreement, saying, “okay”. 

Day and night, Delta worked with Finn on her abilities, learning that they relied on her emotions. Whenever she was scared, she’d cause a fire blast which was a great wave of force fire that burned anything within a ten foot radius of her. When she got upset, she’d burn away the oxygen that was in the room and make a person’s molecules destruct when touching them. With Delta, she learned how to channel and be connected with her powers so they won’t always be associated with her feelings. They displayed Finn’s abilities to Dr. Brenner which made him very pleased, keeping his word and eased up on Finn’s testing. However, he began his harsh conditions on Delta and on another experiment named Eleven. 

Delta was sixteen, laying on a hospital bed and stared up at the ceiling while he felt himself quivering. Over the last few months, he had been having bad dreams of creatures from the dark that were humanoid, nightmarish looking flowers of death that’d terrorize him. Delta had enough, conjuring up some sort of another realm where they would be trapped—where they couldn’t find him in his dreams. Brenner had came to know of this information when he had Eleven try and spy on the Russians, intercepting messages until she spotted one of Delta’s creatures, notifying Brenner before backing away and out of what the Hawkins Scientists called Mental Space. Ever since, Brenner began demanding Delta to contact and come face to face with the monsters. 

Delta shook his head nervously as the guards strapped his wrists down. “No . . . It’s not like anything else. It deserves to stay away from the light, all it is is just filled with darkness. There’s nothing else to it. It’s trying to come after all of us—come after me.” 

“It’s reaching out to you because it wants you.” Brenner remarked, “It’s calling you so don’t turn away.” A small pause from him as he took a step back from the bed. “Don’t turn away from what you created.” 

The guards sat up Delta’s bed, titling it up and forwards so he was able to stare at his reflection in the mirror. The lights in the room were dimmed just enough creating a ghostly glow, allowing him to focus on only his reflection and the cool surface of the mirror. He focused on his breathing, calming himself down, and watched as shadow tentacles curved out and around the edges of the mirror. They covered the walls and ceiling, throwing the teenagers into pure blackness until the dark grew lighter.

Delta blinked slowly; he was no longer trapped to a bed but rather standing in a black place were the floor had inches of water. To his left, there was nothing but to his right, there was a white hallway filled with what looked like snowflakes falling down gently into the water. He began approaching it, his feet slushing through the water as he headed down the narrow passage, seeing a section of one wall looking like puddy as abnormal hands—_claws_, more likely—pressed on it; trying to reach out towards Delta in a begging manner. He passed by, still continuing to the door and reached out his hand, twisting the knob and creaking it open to enter his little releam that he had created for his monstrous creation. 

He was out in the woods which was a shade of light grey, more flakes falling down from the sky, and he made a note of the tendrils and flesh-like membranes that littered the grounds and just about every square inch of the place. He was very confused because if this had been the place he created, something had taken over and completely changed it’s entire scenery. Delta had modeled the realm after Hawkins since that’s where his dreams had always taken place but what he added in was portions of mazes to lose the creatures whenever they found him; this place was very different and something was wrong. It been tampered with. 

He wandered through, hearing unearthly grumbles which he automatically knew where they were coming from—_what_ they were coming from. He quickened his pace, moving faster through the decrypted woods and entering the town, heading straight towards main street. He heard cars traveling past but none were present, his head turning every which way to try and catch sight. 

Delta still kept on traveling through, stopping once he heard the inhumane cries getting louder. Over by weird looking yellow sac that kinda reminded Delta of an egg was the creature that he had seen many times before, hunched over the egg thingy, feeding off of it. The humanoid being was tall and thin with elongated limbs, the skin appearing to be slimy, and the arms and digitigrade legs ended in claws. Delta’s breathing increased, him trying to take a step back but ended up stepping on a can which made a _crunch! _

The figure whipped itself around, displaying the horrible petaled face that Delta vividly remembered, it screeching at him. Delta hurried, taking staggering steps back, his eyes locked on the monster before tearing away. His feet started up, taking him directly out of there and back to the woods where the door was. He ran as fast as he could, his heart pounding directly into his ears and blocking out the creature’s noises that it roared out from behind him. His arms cut through the air, his body twisting and turning as he spotted the door up ahead, his legs already beginning to ache for him to stop. 

A scream erupted from his throat, his voice yelling for help and help from who? Delta had no clue. He just shouted and ran faster. Once he made it to the door, he pushed it open, slamming it close behind him and zoomed right down the hallway. His pant legs getting soaked from the water that splashed up and he saw a mirror at the end, sprinting faster, him wheezing. At the last second, Delta jumped, covering his face as he broke through the glass head first. 

The bed rocketed backwards, the room’s lights flickering off and on rapidly as Delta began screaming loudly, his body shaking with many other objects in the room rattling about. Throughout the whole facility, guards started going on shutdown due to how much items and machines, and even people, were being affected. 

Delta’s eyes shot open, his arms breaking free from the straps and getting himself up on his feet. He was still in a panic from what he had witnessed, his power getting the best of him, making the lichtenberg outline materialize up on his neck. 

“Did you make contact?” 

“No!” Delta yelled at him. “No, I won’t! You don’t understand the problem here.” He defended. “It’s wrong! It’s all wrong! I don’t know what happened but something changed it, and it’s not right!” 

“Four—”

“Listen to me, dammit!” He ran up to the glass, hitting it and staring Brenner directly in the eyes as two other scientists were in the room, observing. His chest was huffing, his face red and pupils dilated. “Something. Is. Wrong. I know what I created, and that . . . That was_ not_ it!”

From behind him, the scientists seen shadow tentacles move and surround the boy, waving at attention like a cat with its tail. There were nine in total, seemingly making the boy appear sinister despite his friendly demeanor. 

“You cannot do this again, you hear me? Don’t go searching after what I’ve created. It’s over and done with! Leave it. Alone.” 

“I know what I’m about, son. And if I want, I will organize anoth—” 

Delta’s expression then changed, his eyes going pitch black and the shadow tails of his shot forwards through the glass, wrapping around Dr. Brenner’s neck and began choking him. The other men moved back in disbelief, not knowing what they should do while Martin tried to pry off the tendrils but failed as his hands just passed through them. Gasping filled the air, Brenner trying to tell the guards to get the boy and sedate him. 

Delta threw him off to the side, the shadows opening the door for him and he marched on out into the hallway. Every time a guard tried to get close to him with threats, his shadows shoved them aside as he continued down the hall with flashing lights that went off and on repeatedly. All the hassle had made Finn curious, leading her to where she saw the workers of the lab run to. There, she seen Delta in his complete deranged state of full power and menacing shadows. She called out to him but he didn’t react, still going on his path of destruction. Against her desire and wishes, she held up her hand, palm igniting with a small orb of flames and chucked it at one of the tentacles that was about to strike Ray Carroll. That’s what gained his attention. 

“Del, what are you doing?” She called out, her chest tightening.

For a moment, he paused, looking puzzled and even tilted his head to try and understand what she was asking—or more so, what was _she_ doing. As the seconds passed, he grew to back to being a danger and directed one of his tendrils to shoot pass Finn and hit another guard that held a sedative in his hands. 

“Delta, stop!” She shouted, worried because he was never this violent; he was the nice one who knew his powers very well and how to control them and this, this wasn’t him. 

More workers came running down and to move Finn out of their way, he thrust out his hand and tossed her upwards too harshly which made her hit her head off the wall and fall into a heaping mess on the floor. Soon as her body dropped, Delta shook his head, eyes returning to normal as he realized what he had done to her by accident meanwhile Brenner headed out of the room, staggering and watched as a guard came charging down the hall. The man was tall, muscular, stocky and bulky. Brenner had never seen him there before and yet, didn’t really care since his concern was only ever focused on the children. He strode straight to where Delta was, cattle prod in hand, and jabbed it directly into the boy’s back which made his fall down to his knees as his body shook uncontrollably. 

The man peered down at Delta, grinning while Brenner trekked up next to the man, huffing. “I want him transferred to the Containment Room. He deserves four days down there with no sunlight, no interaction. Only darkness.” 

Weakly, Delta lolled his head over, staring at Finn’s body that just laid there on the tile floor within six feet from him. He mustered up a frown, frowning at what he had done to her and closed his eyes because he couldn’t bear to see what he had done by mistake. Locking him up was the best thing to do, he agreed with Brenner on that. 

The man scooped him up, carrying him away while Ray checked up on Finn, making sure that she was stable and conscious. Delta sniffled, feeling himself getting emotional as she just looked lifeless, staring at her over the man’s one arm until they turned the corner. Then, it was pitch blackness. A sac was thrown over his head, legs were grabbed and tied together and before he could use his power, he felt the prick of a needle going directly into his arm. He fought to stay awake but it was no use, he drifted off to sleep. 

**JUNE 28TH, 1984**

Men walk around in their hazmat suits, plugging in the huge power cords as the one started heading up on the staircase that was placed in check with the giant machine they’ve got. He turns the knob, punching it with the side of his fist which made the system light up and an alarm to start wailing as a signal that it has been turned on. In the control room, up above the machine, the leader of the operation took a puff of his cigarette, spectating with the big, bulky and stocky man at the right side of him. 

The sound of a door opening captures their attention, them turning to see the two scientists heading down a flight of metal stairs with a bruised Delta in between them; his attention turned down at his shoes. The scientist in the back had his hand on his shoulder, comforting him to try and give the young boy some peace of mind which wasn’t much help at all but Delta appreciated the concern. He had grown close to the man who was probably no more than thirty years of age; his name was Alexei and he carried on conversations with Delta, learning a few English words and Delta, of course, learning the entire Russian alphabet and phrases from his one and a half years of being that facility. 

Alexei, the other man, and the one who was bulky—who reminded Delta of the _Terminator_—were in Hawkins Laboratory as spies. They knew of Project MKUltra and did research on Brenner, studying him and the lab until they’ve learned of a girl named Eleven being able to spy on the Russians and learn their own secrets by entering Mental Space. They stayed longer to understand it but their focus switched to Delta when he was able to create an alternative realm with his power, noting that was more useful than just a simple ‘sneak operation’. They sent a coded message to their leader and he told them that he wanted the boy, so when Delta lashed out on that day, they took their chance and succeeded. 

Delta was asked constantly on how he did it and whenever he told them that he had no clue, he was beaten severely to the point that his jaw and a few facial bones broke. He was fed at random hours of the day so he wouldn't know what time it was nor have a mental schedule of what time it could’ve been. He was given cold showers which involved icy water being thrown over his body and confined in the lowest part of the establishment which was dark and infested with rats. Delta didn’t mind the rats though, he sought them to be his friends, animals to talk to so he wouldn’t completely lose his mind. 

It only four days ago when the leader of the place told Delta that he wanted to harbor the world of decay and monsters that he had created back in Hawkins, and for that to happen, Delta needed to open a portal for them. Delta told him no which earned him a punch across the face which gave him a bloody nose and a swollen cheek. The man told him again and Delta declined, earning him another punch. Delta coughed up blood, telling the man that he wouldn’t be strong enough to open a portal to his realm because of all that it took for him to conjure it up and into a real life, physical thing. The man leaned down, telling him that there would be no problem. 

And so, here they were. The Russians had a machine that powers up with green slush liquid and a small tube which held Delta’s brain fluids to help the device find location of the domain and create a door to it. 

Alexei had a case with two keys on the inside that was used to turn on and off the machine. Delta was placed in between Russian Terminator and the leader while the one man opened the case and handed Alexei the one key. They flipped up the covers that sheltered the keyholes, placing them in before giving a nod to one another and turned them. The device began powering up, whirring with tendrils of blue lightning and the motors spinning around and around as a powerful beam shot at the wall with force. A ghastly pale blue shined on all of them as they watched, being mesmerized by the beauty of it. Delta squinted, seeing the wall where the beam was hitting turning to a fiery orange color. The wall cracked, the noise echoing throughout the building, parting ways to reveal a honey glow from the inside. 

The hairs on the back of Delta’s neck raised, his ears hearing creatures squealing. His eyes locked onto the sight, seeing two black fleshy vine-like items creeping out and expanding. Slowly, his breathing gets deeper and more ragged, as more of them began popping out from the crevice. He closed his eyes, hoping that something would happen for the machine to stop and will it be! The coffee mug on the table began rattling, the whole facility shaking and lights out in the room where the device was were exploding, raining down sparks. Everything out on the floor began failing, shutting down and combusting in sparks. The machine began getting affected, spitting out shots rather than its beam, the vines retreating and the crack closing back up. The device began powering down, going still and quiet as smoke billowed out from it. 

The General snaps his neck at Delta. “Что случилось?” 

_What happened? _Yeah, Delta was wondering the same thing but as a blessing whereas the General was not pleased at all. 

“Я же говорил, машина не будет работать.” Delta defended but the man backed handed him. 

“Worthless American.” He uttered in an Russian accent. 

Delta felt himself getting upset, his nose flaring up as he breathed in and out heavily. He clenched his jaw and once he bawled up his fingers into his palm, making a fist, that’s when the machine blew up in a combust of electricity. All the men out by the machine flew back, them all getting struck and their bodies burning from the immense power and electrical charge that was created by the device. 

The general, Russian Terminator, the other guy, Alexei, and Delta headed out, going down the steps and eyed the molten piles of flesh that were on fire. The general headed up to the wall, seeing the crack now healed over and rested his hand on it in disappointment. The one man stepped up, nervous and sweating. 

He stutters, “Генерал-Тов. Мы близко. Ты можешь видеть. Вы можете увидеть наш прогресс. Нам просто нужно больше времени—” The Russian Terminator grabbed him by the throat, choking him out and lifted him up so his feet were dangling and kicking. 

Alexei was startled, standing next to Delta and watched as the general headed over to the both of them. “У вас есть один год.” 

_You have one year. _He said to him, walking pass and Alexei just eyed Delta, gulping while he told that general that he understood while the other man fell onto the floor; dead. 

Delta stared at the man, his dead body, seeing flashes of Finn and he turned away quick. He didn’t want Alexei to get hurt like how Finn and even that other man because of him. Delta been thinking about this too much, he knew what this game was and he was about to make a power move that could either be the worst thing or the best thing he’s ever come up with. So he took in a deep breath, eyeing the young gentleman. 

“Я знаю, почему это не сработало.” Alexei curiously eyed him, nodding for him to continue on with his speaking. “Царство никогда не было открыто здесь, но было открыто в Америке. В Хокинсе, штат Индиана.” 

And just like that, the plans for America started. 

It was December, Delta was down in his cell and he found a piece of broken mirror that was hidden under the one metal bar to his room. He stared at his reflection, focusing hard and seen the shadows come slithering out from the small shard and immersing him into the abyss. 

Delta found himself outside of a school called Hawkins Elementary, entering through the doors and seen decorations, kids, and a few adults that were chaperoning. His eyes wandered around, taking in the beautiful sights of the lovely music, smiling faces, and appetizing food. 

He twirled around on his heel, seeing a girl in a dark blue ruffled dress with puffy sleeves. Delta felt his hands getting sweaty, lingering up and spotted a small birthmark on the girl’s back. It was a pink discoloration and it was shaped like a lotus flower. Absentmindedly, he raised his fingers, his pad of his middle finger grazing it ever so slightly and the girl turned, revealing herself to be who Delta thought she was. It was Finn. 

Delta was instantly smitten by her beauty, the air getting knocked right out from his lungs. Her green eyes spotted his and he was sure that she could see him but once her eyes began shifting from side to side, he knew that she couldn’t. 

_“Finn,” _A boy had walked up to her, making her turn back around. _“Hi.”_

_“Hi.”_

_“Would you like to dance?” _

Finn kindly nodded, the boy taking her hand and took her out to the dance floor. Oh how Delta wish that was him. To feel her warmth, to have her stare at him, to dance with her to the soft melody of the music that played through their feet. It seemed magical but for now, this would have to do. Him seeing Finn being healthy and happy. 

From outside, Delta heard thunder and lightning. He turned, listening in and headed back out of the door and seen that he was in his realm and boy, was it completely wrong and seemingly filled with an atmosphere fit for malice. A flash of red casts down and Delta turned around, facing the school that he had just walked out of to see a huge monster looming over the building. The sky comes back to life with lightning, glowing red and revealing a creature that Delta had never seen before.


	3. PHONEBOOTH

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summer brings new jobs, romance, and unlikely friendships; while attempting to contact Suzie, Dustin picks up a Russian broadcast on his radio; Will and Finn senses that something is wrong.

Mike pedals fast, the neon letters of Starcourt Mall shines down in blue hues, casting shadows on Max, Will, and Lucas who watch him skid on in. “You’re late.” Lucas tells him, slightly impatient. “Again.”

“Sorry.” Mike swung his leg over and off to the side of the bicycle. 

“We’re gonna miss the opening.” Will adds. 

“Yeah, if you keep whining about it. Let’s go!” 

“‘If you guys keep whining about it’.” Lucas mocks while Mike trots up to him, spinning him around to walk through the doors of the mall. 

“Just please stop talking, dude.”

“Let me guess. You were busy.” He began smacking his lips, fluttering his eyes while they all paced themselves towards Scoops Ahoy. 

“Oh, yeah, real mature, Lucas.” Mike replies bitterly, tightening his grip on his backpack which had snacks in it for them to sneak into the movies.

Lucas then went, “Oh, El, I wish we could make out forever, and never hang out with any of our friends.” It made Will smile, him chuckling while Max just sighed.

“Lucas, stop.” She tells him.

He glances back, seeing his one friend chuckle. “Will thinks it’s funny.”

“Because it is.” Will agrees. 

“Yeah, it’s _so funny_ that I want to spend romantic time with my girlfriend.” Mike remarks bitterly. 

Lucas then gaped, motioning towards Max. “I’m spending romantic time with my girlfriend.”

Down in Victoria’s Secret, Finn was dressed up in lingerie and her hair curled with the bangs pinned back. She was the model for the store, wearing the newest articles of clothing that they were putting out for customers. She twirled around, catching sight of the kids hustling down the escalators through the crowds of people; hightailing right pass her which earned a smile on her rosy lips. 

“Finn!” Her boss calls to her and she rotates back, seeing the busy woman in a navy blue suit and her bouncing dirty blonde curls that she had done that very morning for a lunch date that ended with the man bailing on by using the excuse that he needed to use the restroom. “You can go and take ten! Then head on over to the Gap to do your work other there!” 

Yes, Finn was a model for Victoria’s Secret and Gap. She had two gigs and she was alright with it. She had chosen to live with Hopper and El since her father, Murray, was still back in Illinois and she offered to help pay for her staying there; a home rent.

She headed on out of the shop, entering the food court just in time to see the kids passing by Lucas’s sister, Erica, and her friends sitting down and eating ice cream that they got from Scoops Ahoy. 

“Isn’t it past your bedtime?” Lucas says to her. 

‘Isn’t it time you die?” She shoots back. 

“Psycho.”

“Butthead!”

“Molerat!” He shouts, whizzing pass with the others. 

“Fart face!” 

Lucas then stuck out his tongue, blowing a raspberry and Max took him by the arm gently, spinning him back around to follow the group. “Oh, now that was mature.” Finn laughed, shaking her head at them. 

Into Scoops Ahoy they went, ringing the bell loudly and Robin looked up at the children. “Hey, Dingus! Your children are here.” 

Steve opened the windows from behind Robin, seeing them and sighed. “Again? Seriously?” They all just stared at him and Mike rung the bell again, Steve nods, directing them to the back hallway, sneaking them to the movie theater. 

Mike opens the door at the end, sneaking his head out and when no one was watching him, Lucas, Max, and Will all hurried out, and into the screening for Day of the Dead they went, finding perfect seats near the front. 

“See guys, we made it.” Mike whispers. 

“We missed the previews.” Lucas replied back. 

“Still made it. Fart face.” Max teases him, smiling as Will began pulling out the snacks that he packed for all of them in his bag. He gave Skittles to Lucas which then Lucas gave to Max while he kept AirHeads and gave Runts to Mike just as the screen opened up and the movie began playing. Within a minute, the screen warped, cutting off and the coward clamored. 

Out in the mall, Finn just got changed into her Gap outfit which consisted of acid washed high waisted jeans that were rolled up, accompanied with a black pleated belt, a mustard colored long sleeved shirt that she tucked into her pants with a pair of white Adidas shoes that she wore with baby blue and mustard colored ankle socks, and a baby blue windbreaker that had a pattern of purple, pink, and yellow on the sleeves. She was checking the clock that was up on the wall, seeing the time and sipping on her smoothie that she got from Orange Julius when all the lights and every mechanical things in the mall shut off. 

“The hell?” Erica furrowed her brow, glancing around. 

Finn turned her head, seeing the escalators stopped and even the little kiddy rides for children were not working. She had a bad feeling about it, she knew that something was wrong. Her feet picked up, excusing herself as she made way up to where the entrance was and peeked outside to see the whole town going out in a blackout. Her hands place themselves on the glass, her eyes just staring out and suddenly, like magic, the electricity turned back on and everything began moving again. 

Everyone had on smiles, continuing on with what they were doing but not Finn. She closed her eyes, trying to see what had happened to see what exactly caused the blackout but the only thing she picked up on was the mall. She opens her eyes, hearing her name being called to get back to work and she stares at herself in the reflection for a moment, heading back to the Gap. 

Hawkins Pool was a great place to hang out during the hot summer, whenever Finn was off from working, she’d be there relaxing and swimming. She had her fun, truly gave her the sense of being a normal kid and being surrounded by happy people helped a lot. She headed over to the rooms, finding a payphone and called her dad. 

“Who is this? How’d you get this number?” He immediately spoke into the other end. 

“Calm down, dad. It’s me.” She laughs, shaking her head and placed her sunglasses up on her head. 

“Sprite!” Joy filled his voice. “I missed you, how’ve you been?” 

“You just seen me three days ago.” 

“In parent time, that’s equivalent to three months.”

Finn snorted, smiling wide. “Well, I’m doing fine. I’m just at the pool, hanging out. Had today off from working so I figured to come here and clear my head of a kinda bizarre blackout that we had last night.” 

“I’m sure it’s nothing, Sprite. But you know the deal, I have to go. In another hour, they can find my IP address and track me down.” Murray remarks, his conspiracy mind always in overdrive. 

Finn nods. “Yeah, I know. I love you.” 

“Love you.” 

The phone call ends. 

Finn makes her way back inside, trekking around the pool and watched a kid did a cannonball from the diving board. She found her chair, sitting down and opened up her novel of Edgar Allan Poe’s _The Masque of the Red Death_. She was just about finished with it, fixing down her glasses so the page wasn’t so bright for her eyes. With the kids playing and so many people talking at once, Finn grabbed her walkman from her bag, placing the headset on and began playing her one cassette tape of Frankie Goes To Hollywood. 

After a little while, she got finished with her book, placing it into her bag and shut off her walkman. She put it in her bag as well, getting up and went down near the opened area of the pool where people could swim back and forth from one side to the other for swimming exercises. Finn took in a deep breath, stretching her arms above her head and placed them together, diving into the water. 

Karen Wheeler and her friends were at the pool, them watching as the lifeguard Heather got down from the ladder and they all got into their positions, making themselves presentable as Billy Hargrove, Max’s older stepbrother, walked out smoking a cigarette. He flicked it off to the side, he stood in red shorts and was shirtless, showing off his pecs and abs which could make any woman weak kneed. He strolled through, seeing a kid running and blew his whistle at him. 

“Hey, lard-ass!” The crowd went quiet. “No running on my watch! I gotta warn you again, and you’re banned for life.You wanna be banned for life, lard-ass?” The kid shook his head. “Didn’t think so.” 

He blew his whistle again and everyone back to having fun, the kid walking this time around the pool to head to the bathroom. Billy continued his way over to the lifeguard tower, passing by Karen and her friends. He gave them a nod with a smirk, saying, “Afternoon ladies.” 

In unison, they replied with, “Afternoon Billy.” 

Billy then noticed Karen’s newest swimsuit, complementing it. “Dig the new suit, Mrs. Wheeler.”

“Thank you.” She bit her bottom lip, eyes glued on him as he got up in the lifeguard tower, keeping his eyes out on everyone that was in the pool. 

Finn surfaced, doing a front crawl then switched to a backstroke, then allowed herself to float in place. The sun beats down on her body, warming her up and she embraces it, letting all of her worries slip from her. The sounds from all around her silenced, her hearing zoning out and allowing her to be at peace. 

Billy’s eyes scanned around, landing on Finn and he slowly removed his glasses, staring at her. He has seen her over the last month at the pool and had spoken with her when she was visiting by the house to give his step mother, Susan, coupons for the Gap. He grew interested her, finding her to be someone worth his time and effort—and not just in a physical way. He wanted a friend, but he couldn’t deny that she was very and totally tubular. He seen how her body turned back over, her diving back under the water gracefully and heading straight for the ladder.

Finn picks her feet up, pausing on the bottom step and gingerly looked over her shoulder to see Billy looking at her with a grin. For some reason, she got an awful feeling and turned away, continuing up the ladder, bringing her body out of the water. Billy stared at her body, watching as the water droplets fell from her behind and gliding down her soft, peach skin, placing his whistle in his mouth, biting down on it and licking his lips before whistling in a wolf's call. 

She began walking his way, studying him as he got down from his stand and headed on over with a towel in hand. Finn came to a stop, Billy speaking, “Lookin’ good out there.” 

“Thanks.” She shrugged him off, not really wanting to speak to him but didn’t want to be rude. 

She had talked to Billy before, they weren’t exactly friends but they weren’t enemies either. Whenever Susan was talking on the phone with someone whenever she visited and Max was out with Lucas, she’d wait around and speak with Billy about a few mindless things. He’d flirt with her here and there but he never made her feel uncomfortable, however this interaction felt off and Finn had no idea why. She put the blame on last night’s outage that she still found to be strange and off putting. 

He handed her the towel and she took it, thanking him again. “Perfect form.” 

“I should say the same about you and teaching the kids with swimming lessons.” She chirped back, smiling to try and push through the cringey atmosphere; wrapping the towel around her waist. “Do you do it because you enjoy it? Or because you get paid?” She teased. 

Billy laughed, genuinely. “Money isn’t bad but some of the kids aren’t all horrible, they look up to me and understand my every word.” He glances over at the children, thinking and looks back to Finn. “Say, would you want to go out and have dinner with me tonight?” 

“Like a date?” Finn slightly tilted her head, confused. 

“If you want to call it that, sure.” Billy reached in his pocket, pulling out a stick of gum and unwrapped it before folding the piece straight into his mouth. “We can go and get Chinese, eight o’clock?” 

“I don’t . . I don’t think I can’t—”

“Can’t what? Have fun?” He smiles which made her laugh, shaking her head. “I promise, it’ll be strictly friends.” 

“Just friends?” She remarks back to him. 

“Just friends. Strictly platonic.” He states. “Even if you want it to be romantic, I’ll say no.” 

Finn nods. “Fine. Chinese at eight, only as friends.” 

“Deal.” 

Dustin Henderson had arrived home from his summer camp called Camp Know Where and had built a ham radio that he called Cerebro; he called it, “the Cadillac of ham radios”. He had created it to talk to his Mormon girlfriend, Suzie—that he met at the camp—who lived in Salt Lake City. Max, Lucas, Will, El, and Mike all followed him to the highest hill in Hawkins that Dustin called Weathertop since the radio Cerebro best worked at a higher altitude. El and Mike had ended up leaving to spend romantic time together while Dustin, Lucas, Max, and Will made it to the top and set up the radio. 

Dustin began calling for Suzie and it ended up taking all night, making his friends believe that he didn’t have a girlfriend in the first place and it was just a scheme to have them be there with him. One by one, they began leaving, saying that it was getting late and they apologized. Dustin still stayed, sitting down and heard the radio come to life with someone speaking Russian. It caught him off guard; did Cerebro really work this incredibly? It could reach the location of Russia? Flabbergasted as he was, he didn’t know the actual, disturbing truth behind it. 

Down below the deep depths of the Starcourt Mall, Alexei walked in through the facility that they had created, passing by the man who was giving out a coded message on the radio. He entered the one room, glancing out to the floor to see that their machine was in full swing. One of the scientists turns to him, his eyes wide in awe. “красиво, не правда ли.”_ Beautiful, isn’t it?_ He said; Alexei giving him a small smile with a nod, facing back at the machine and seeing how it began opening up the portal that they so badly wanted to open. He then began frowning, his eyes catching sight of Delta who was chained up and being stuck with endless needles to keep him and his powers sedated. 

Last night, when they turned on the machine, Delta’s powers got intense, his whole body ignited in an electric pulse which is what caused the blackout. Russian Terminator had shot him with a syringe, drugging him up which kicked back on the electricity and the machine ran its course. Since then, he’s been under watch, getting sedated every two hours to make sure that there’d be no interruptions. Alexei just stood and watched the poor boy, turning away and left. 

Finn was outside in the parking, eyeing the neon lights on the Chinese restaurant sign. She began doubting herself, clasping her hands together in boredom and glanced up at the starry sky. The world was bigger than her, it was massive and expanded across everything; then beyond that, there was so much more to life. In the distance, she heard the soft rumble of a car and looked to see Billy driving up in his blue Camaro. He was listening to some heavy metal song that Finn never heard of before. He parks, turning off the engine, getting out and headed on over to her. 

“Hey.”

“Hi.” 

“You look amazing.” 

“Friends, remember.” 

Billy laughed, nodding. “I know, can’t friends not comment on each other? Even when they do look amazing for dinner and a hangout?” 

Finn shook her head, trying not to smile but failed. She turned away, blushing, and nods. “Alright. Come on, Hargrove.” She went straight for the door and Billy followed, opening it up for her and she thanked him, going on. 

For an hour, Billy and Finn sat and talked, learning a bit about each other and even spoke of Max. Billy sighed, mentioning about how they used to live in California then they had to move because of something that was Max’s fault. When Finn asked what was, Billy just went silent then admitted that it was _partially_ his fault but more so Max’s. He danced around her question and she was curious, eyes lingering down to his hand that held chopsticks and cleared her throat before changing the subject. 

“So, your father got with Susan.” 

He nodded. “Susan and Max were still _healing_ whenever Neil brought them into our home.” 

Finn paused, studying him and his attitude when she mentioned his father. She found it weird that he called him by his first name and not by dad or father, not even pops. When rethinking back to his sentence, she found the word ‘healing’ interesting. 

“What do you mean by healing?” She asks, placing a cheese waton in her mouth. 

“Max lost her older brother, got kidnapped or something like that. Neil told me that since she lost her brother, I needed to be a good one for her; that she was my responsibility and to not let anything happen to her. Also told me not to be stupid enough to let someone take me without a fight.” 

She nods slowly, filling her face so she wouldn’t have to speak. Billy changed the subject so effortlessly, going on about things like his job at the Hawkins Pool and how he basically was given the job of being a Lifeguard with hardly any effort. Finn congratulated him, finishing up with her food and Billy did the same, offering to pay. She thanked him once more and they headed out, saying their goodbyes and Finn waited until Billy was out of sight, out of mind, in order for her to head to the phonebooth and called Joyce to pick her up. 

Riding through the night, on the stranded back road that Billy was taking as a shortcut, he stared at himself in the rearview mirror; he was smiling wide. He enjoyed the friendly conversation with Finn, his head bopping to his music and suddenly, something crashed into his windshield. He jerked the wheel, the car going off the road and swerving out into a spin, crashing against a steel beam. His forehead was cut open, bleeding and he winced, touching it gently; cursing under his breath as he hit the wheel repeatedly as the radio cut in and out. Pulling on the door handle, he gets himself out slowly, seeing that he was outside the Brimborn Steel Works warehouse and inspected his car to see how bashed up it was. 

“Shit.” He muttered, seeing how the backdoor was dented in and he hit it repeatedly to somehow try and fix it, but it wasn’t working. “Dammit!” He stumbled back, kicking the fender. “Piece of shit!” 

Billy slams the car door shut, trekking to the front and stopped, seeing something on the windshield where he had hit the unknown object. He sticks his middle finger in it, raising it up to see a gooey substance that looked like white snot or saliva. He moved it around with his thumb, try to decipher what exactly it was and where it came from. His attention was torn away when he heard an animalistic screech and the rustle of leaves from behind him, gazing out around him. 

“Who’s there?!” Billy took a few steps out, peering around. “Hey! I said who’s there!”

Something had grabbed his left foot, yanking him down onto his stomach and started to drag him into the warehouse. Billy tried scratching at the ground, trying to hold onto stomach as he yelled out. His body got whaled into the side of the building, then shuttled in, him still trying to grasp onto something for dear life. Billy got his chance when the thing tried pulling him down the stairs, his hands managed to plant themselves on the sides of the staircase entrance. He fought against the tug with his muscles, yelling out before his arms gave out and down he went into the basement. 

The door to the cabin opens, Finn entering and placed her coat up on the hanger to see Hopper looking over at her. “Hey, firestarter.” He smiles. “Where have you been?” 

“You’ve guess it, starting fires.” She jokes back, taking a seat on the couch that was by his recliner and grabbed a tortilla chip from his bag. “And what about you, father of the year?” 

“I’m doing good, yeah. Had a heart-to-heart with El and Mike.” 

Finn took a bite of her chip, nodding. “About their constant kissing? And how the policy is to keep the door open three inches.” 

“Three inches. Opened. That was the deal.” 

“I know,” Finn agreed with him. “But she also never really had a childhood, never had someone to love the way that she loves Mike. It’s not a bad thing, it’s a good one. So just let her have some space to be a kid for a bit; there’s no harm in it.” 

Hopper sighs, “You’re right.” 

“Usually am.” Finn grinned, watching as Hopper got up and wished her goodnight and headed towards El’s room to wish her the same. 

Finn then got up, going to her room and closed the door softly before changing into her pajamas. She lied down, staring up at her ceiling and rubbed the back of her neck which was covered in goosebumps for some reason. _Something was off_, she thought to herself. But what was it? She had no idea. Maybe it was the little meet up with Billy that got her nerves up since she wasn’t completely over Delta, missing him every single day. If she closed her eyes, she could still remember his smile and the small markings on his cheeks that reminded her of a star constellation. How she missed him, how she’d even loved him. 

Her alarm clock began blaring, making her tilt her head to see that it was ten o’clock. She reached, tapping it and turned off her lamp before rolling over and forcing herself to fall asleep even though an icy chill wasn’t leaving her spine. 

Billy came flying up from the warehouse steps, stumbling over, his face glistening with the gooey substance that was on his cracked windshield. He gulped, getting up and on his feet, gimping towards his car; to safety. He rips the door open, throwing his body in and started it up, spinning out of the driveway and back onto the road going about 70 miles per hour. 

He spotted a telephone booth on the side of the road, pulling over in a hurry and got out of his car to make an urgent call. He placed in his change, punching in the buttons and allowed himself to take a breather before the line picked up with a female voice. 

“911, what’s your emergency?” 

Billy thought back to him being dragged down in that dirty basement, hearing the rats squeal and running around as that fleshly tendril attached itself to his mouth as Billy screamed and tried to fight back against it. His thoughts were cut off when the light in the booth turned on, flickering off and on before cutting down and drenching him in the dark and a ghastly blue glow which looked unnatural. 

Slowly, he hangs up the phone, opening the door of the booth and stepped out to see that he was where he pulled over but it was different. It was darker, looked dull and dead. There was what appeared to be ash falling from the sky in flakes, vines all over the place that were black and pulsing like they were alive. Billy strolled onto the road, gazing at the fog as he heard an army marching straight towards him. It faded out, him seeing many silhouettes. 

“What do you want?” He requested to the group, but none of them responded. They just kept on approaching him and he stepped up. “Hey! I said, what do you want?” Still no answer. “I said, what do you want?!” This time he shouts and from above, lightning crackled in the sky. 

The group came to a halt but the person in front kept on prowling towards Billy, revealing himself to be another Billy; a clone of him from the Upside Down which had Billy at a loss for words. The storm kept on crackling, red lightning striking in the clouds and growing in size. 

_“To build.”_ The clone replied in a deep, echoing voice. _“I want you to build.”_

“To build what?” He was utterly confused. 

_“What you see.”_

“I don’t understand.” 

There was a huge thunderclap and Billy was back to the normal world that he knew with moonlight, the starry sky, no vines, no falling ash, and no clone of him or the marching group. 

He turned all around, trying to find where the people had gone. “I don’t understand! What do you mean? I don’t understand!”

Delta awoke with a jolt in his cell, sitting up and glanced down at his bruised arm from where all the injections were going straight into his veins. He took in a deep breath, slowly checking his shadow that was cast on the wall and nodded to it before he heard a few guards coming in to give him another dose. Back he went on his bed, closing his eyes, pretending to be passed out cold as their footsteps drew closer. 

“Все еще должно быть успокоено.” 

_Still must be sedated. If only, _Delta mentally snickered to himself. 

“Давай еще его приклеим. Мы не хотим, чтобы босс был расстроен нами.”

The one unlocks the door, opening it slowly and they head in with the syringe. The one man softly kicks Delta’s foot, not seeing him react and nods to the other to stick him. He nods back in agreement, leaning down, placing the needle directly into his overused vein and before he could push the plunger, Delta opened his eyes; jerking his head forwards and up which sent his shadow after the man with the shot. 

Back he flew against the wall, falling down and Delta tore the syringe from his arm and stuck it into the other man, his thumb jabbing on the plunger to send the warm substance directly into his own bloodstream. The man cursed in Russian, sinking down onto his knees while Delta’s shadow reattached to him and they made their daring escape out of the cell but not before grabbing the one man’s keys and shutting the door to lock the two men inside. 

He ran through the facility, his heart pounding in his chest as he paused, debating to either stop the machine or just leave and run. Ultimately, he chose on trying to escape because with shutting down the machine, it would give away that he was free and that he was powerful once again. Delta wanted his family, to hold his baby sister Maxine again and to promise to never leave her side again. To hug his mother and apologize that he’s been gone for years, to hug his father and thank him for teaching him to be strong since his young age because it had prepared him for his time in Hawkins Lab and Russia. 

This was his chance to be free. His only shot. 

He ran, making his way down the long corridors that were menacing and enormous but it was short lived when he saw a group of guards at the elevator, having his skid to a stop. They spotted him, calling out for him to stop and aimed their guns at him. Delta ducked, turning tail and headed back the way he came as they chased after. 

They called in, the sirens wailing to ensure that they needed to be on shutdown and Delta was soon surrounded. He paused, facing the many guards and heavily breathed in and out. The one brought out an electric cattle prod, threatening to shock him while one took out a small stun gun and aimed it at his back. Delta sensed it, immediately spinning around just as the man shot it and he caught the electrodes with his left hand as electric traveled through the wires. He pulled on the wires, showing that he was able to take the charge and threw them back at the man to electrocute himself. 

The one thrusts the cattle prod at his side, Delta completely unphased and he snatched it out of the man’s hand and whacked him in the face with the end which sent him to the floor with a grunt. He then tossed the prod away and a few guards took out their guns, cocking and ready to unload their clips. 

“Сделай это.” He urged them on to shoot, and they did. Shot after shot, round after round, they all fired their guns at Delta while he just stood there. 

Once the clips were all done and there was nothing left to shoot, they lowered their weapons to see Delta standing untouched, just smirking. “Had the wrong guy.” He points to behind them and they turn, seeing Delta behind them who bows in a teasing manner and as they tried to run for him, they all smacked in a wall that was made entirely out of shadows. 

“до свидания.” _Bye. _

Delta zoomed straight for the elevator with the keys, hustling against the wailing sirens and bumped straight into Alexei who fixed his glasses, seeing Delta and Delta was wide eyed. They both got up, staring at each other in silence as the blaring alarms kept going off. He was waiting for Alexei to yell, to call for help since he was escaping but he didn’t. Alexei stepped off to the side, allowing him to continue on with his escaping; Delta had saved him from dying so in return, Alexei was allowing him to be free. 

“Thank you.” Delta uttered with gratitude, going back to running while Alexei watched him open the elevator and getting inside, shutting it. 

Delta stuck the key in the hole, turning it and pressed the button to travel upwards towards home sweet home.


End file.
